Police release photos of ATM bombing suspect

Frederickburg Police have released two photos taken from a surveillance video of a suspect who placed an explosive device at an ATM. (Courtesy Fredericksburg Police)

UPDATE: Wednesday – 12/5/2012, 4:59pm ET

WASHINGTON – Police have released photos from a surveillance video showing a suspect who placed an improvised explosive device at the drive-through ATM at Virginia Credit Union.

The suspect appears to be wearing a ski mask, jeans, a dark colored hoodie under a dark blue or black overcoat, and a head lamp.

Police say he may have carried a backpack or bag with him and he could have arrived on foot, in a car or bike.

Anyone with information concerning an individual who may have an interest in explosives or who may have been at large in the early morning hours of Dec. 5 is urged to contact Detective Doug Perkins at 540-654-5758.

EARLIER: Wednesday – 12/5/2012, 4:59pm ET

WASHINGTON – Most people use ATM cards to get cash from a bank or credit union. Fredericksburg Police say someone tried a different method at a Fredericksburg branch of the Virginia Credit Union: An explosive device.

An employee of the credit union called police at about 9 a.m. after the employee noticed the ATM machine was damaged and had scorch marks, says Natatia Bledsoe with the Fredericksburg Police.

At about the same time the employee called police, a resident of a nearby apartment complex called to say she had heard an explosion at about 4 that morning, Bledsoe says.

“It was loud enough that it actually set off car alarms in the area,” she says.

The woman “looked out her window and saw a figure walking around the bank,” Bledsoe says.

The woman was unable to give a good description of that person to police, Bledsoe says, but police were able to verify from a video that an explosive device was unsuccessfully used on the ATM.

As part of their investigation, police evacuated the credit union and some nearby apartments while they had a bomb-detection dog check the interior of the credit union. The dog alerted to something on the site and that led to a secondary search. Those areas were cleared and residents allowed to return home.

The bomb-detecting dog had ‘alerted’ on a dumpster near the credit union, according to a news release. But nothing was found in the dumpster.

The area is an active crime scene, while the investigation continues, Bledsoe says.